Device for wrapping vertically piled coins or the like in bags manufacturing out of a shrink film

ABSTRACT

A method of wrapping uniformly shaped flat pieces, such as coins, piled up in columns, in a shrink film covering, comprises the operational steps of feeding a film band longitudinally folded in half and with the fold being below and the height of the folded band corresponding approximately to the height of the pile of pieces to be wrapped, intermittently heat-sealing and/or perforating the folded film band along vertical lines at distances corresponding to the diameter of the pile of pieces to be wrapped so as to form individual bags, consecutively blowing up each bag to open it, introducing into the open bag a bundle of pins adapted to be spread apart so as to hold the bag fast and open, tearing the bag off along the perforation to separate it from the remaining bags, transporting the open bag under the prepared pile, dropping the pile in vertical position into the bag, slowly lowering the bag containing the pile still in vertical position while it is subjected to a current of hot air to cause the film to shrink and to tightly engage the pile. The device for carrying out the method includes bag forming means in the form of heat-sealing and perforating equipment to form the bag side closures. Each bag is opened by a blower and is engaged after opening by a bag spreading and transporting mechanism. The opened bags are transported by the spreading and transporting mechanism to a location below a vertical stack of the articles and a selected quantity of the articles is dropped into each opened bag in succession. The filled bags are moved by means of a lowering mechanism through a heating chamber to cause the bag film material to tightly engage the articles while they are held in a vertical orientation.

Uie States Patent [191 Schmechel [4 1 Jan. 7, 1975 DEVICE FOR WRAPPINGVERTICALLY PILED COINS OR THE LIKE IN BAGS MANUFACTURING OUT OF A SHRINKFILM [75] Inventor: Werner Schmechel, Berlin, Germany [73] Assignee:Firma F. Zimmerman & Co., Berlin,

Germany [22] Filed: Apr. 5, 1973 [21] App]. No.: 348,022

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Primary Examiner--Robert L.Spruill Attorney, Agent, or Firm-McGlew and Tuttle [57] ABSTRACT Amethod of wrapping uniformly shaped flat pieces,

such as coins, piled up in columns, in a shrink film covering, comprisesthe operational steps of feeding a film band longitudinally folded inhalf and with the fold being below and the height of the folded bandcorresponding approximately to the height of the pile of pieces to bewrapped, intermittently heat-sealing and/or perforating the folded filmband along vertical lines at distances corresponding to the diameter ofthe pile of pieces to be wrapped so as to form individual bags,consecutively blowing up each bag to open it, introducing into the openbag a bundle of pins adapted to be spread apart so as to hold the bagfast and open, tearing the bag off along the perforation to separate itfrom the remaining bags, transporting the open bag under the preparedpile, dropping the pile in vertical position into the bag, slowlylowering the bag containing the pile still in vertical. position whileit is subjected to a current of hot air to cause the film to shrink andto tightly engage the pile. The device for carrying out the methodincludes bag forming means in the form of heat-sealing and perforatingequipment to form the bag side closures. Each bag is opened by a blowerand is engaged after opening by a bag spreading and transportingmechanism. The opened bags are transported by the spreading andtransporting mechanism to a location below a vertical stack of thearticles and a selected quantity of the articles is dropped into eachopened bag in succession. The filled bags are moved by means of alowering mechanism through a heating chamber to cause the bag filmmaterial to tightly engage the articles while they are held in avertical orientation.

12 Claims, 19 Drawing Figures Patented Jan. 7, 1975 6 Sheets-Sheet 1Patented Jan. 7, 1975 6 Sheets-Sheet 2' Patented Jan. 7, 1975 6Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Jan. 7, 1975 3,858,380

6 Sheets-Sheet 4 U llhll Patented Jan. 7, 1975 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 DEVICEFOR WRAPPING VERTICALLY PILED COINS OR THE LIKE IN BAGS MANUFACTURINGOUT OF A SHRINK FILM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of theInvention This invention relates to article packaging devices and, inparticular, to a new and useful method and apparatus for wrappingcolumns of uniformly shaped flat pieces in a plastic shrink film andsubsequently treating the film with the treated column held continuouslyin vertical position in order to shrink it into tight engagement withthe vertically held coins.

2. Description of the Prior Art The wrapping of piles or columns ofcoins, tokens, or similar piled pieces into a film is known. There isalso known to use bags made of a shrinkable film. Flexible film tubesare squeezed flat on their one end and sealed. The thus closed end of atube forms the botom of the bag which receives a predetermined number ofpiled coins, whereupon the still open other end of the tube is alsosqueezed flat and sealed above the column. The sealed pack or roll ofcoins is separated from a tube of this material and falls firstvertically down but is then turned by 90 into a horizontal position inwhich it is transported to a shrinkage oven. The oven serves to make thewrapping shrink under the supplied heat so that the film tightly appliesagainst the column of coins. However, during the shrinkage operation,the horizontal position of the coin pile surrounded by the bag shows adrawback insofar as the coins, owing to the change of their originalposition, do not remain uniformly arranged within the shrinkingwrapping. This shortcoming appears even when the coins are enclosed in acushion-like wrapping which is also known and in which the coins arebrought into a horizontal position and then submitted to the shrinkage.

The known bag-type wrappings do not allow the coins to be perfectlyaligned and permit the formation of bucklings on the flexible tube orcushion when the film is submitted to shrinkage. In order to avoid suchphenomena, there have been provided additional treatments of the looselywrapped coin piles and, for example, the coins in the wrapping arecontinuously rotated about their longitudinal axis and simultaneouslythe film submitted to the shrinkage. Such a wrapping method and thedevices necessary thereto are considerably complicated. Moreover, theuse of film tubes which are sealed transversely above and below the coinpile makes it necessary to keep a stock of various film tubes for all ofthe usual coin diameters.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION With the present invention, it is possible tomanufacture wrappings of any desired diameter corresponding to thediameter of each pile to be wrapped, piece by piece, without thenecessity of keeping stocks of various tubes. At the same time, theinvention eliminates the possibility of a bad alignment of the coinsbefore and during the shrinkage, without using additional operations.The whole wrapping process is simplified, improved and made lessexpensive.

In accordance with the invention, there is provided a method comprisingthe following operational steps: A shrink film band is longitudinallyfolded in half and longitudinally fed in vertical position, with itsfold below and the free edges above, by advance steps corresponding tothe diameter of the bag having to receive the coin pile, and thenheat-sealed as well as perforated at each step transversely in order toform bag side closures along a vertical line extending over the wholeheight of the folded band. The folded band section thus formed betweenthe last two consecutive heat-sealings is tightly clamped in verticalposition and blown up from above so as to form an open bag. By means ofspreading members also introduced from above, this bag is held open.torn away from the following clamped band section and transported inthis state under a storing tube containing the pile of coins. The pileis then dropped into the bag and, while still in vertical position, thefilled bag of coins is lowered. During this downward movement, the bagis submitted to the shrinkage treatment so that the wrapping appliestightly against the pile without changing the orientation of the coins.

By using a folded-in-half film band as the starting material for themanufacture of the film bags, feeding the film band in vertical positionwith the fold below, sealing it transversely in predetermined distancesand keeping the vertical position throughout the whole process, it ispossible for the first time to manufacture film bags with any desireddiameter, to fill the open bags with piles which are kept ready andcounted off and to shrink the wrappings down without changing the mutualposition of the coins. The method is simple and permits varying of thediameter of the manufactured bags merely by making slight adjustments ofthe bag side closing mechanism.

It is of importance for the simplicity of this method that the bag isstripped off the spreading members which hold the bag open by thedropping pile itself. The stripped off bag is caught in its fall, sloweddown in the fall direction, and passed through a transverse hot aircurrent, and at the end of its downward movement, ejected. Thus, theweight of the falling pile is utilized to loosen the bag from thespreading members by which it has up to now been held open and to permitit to shrink down while keeping the coins in their vertical pileorientation.

While in the known methods, the separation of the individual sections ofthe filled tube is effected by means of a heated cutting tool, accordingto the invention, the bag section to be filled is torn off along thevertically spaced heat sea] perforations made in the side closureforming operation. The pulling force for the tearing off is appliedstarting from the upper edges of the folded film band, in the zone ofthe lower reach of the spreading members, and the resistance of theperforation against the separation decreases toward the direction of thefold. Thereby, it is made possible easily and without trouble to tearasunder even film band sections of greater height.

According to an advantageous development of the invention, there isprovided a scanning of each section of the folded film band, thescanning pulse provoking the advancing of the film band by a furthermotion step and the subsequent heat-sealing of the perforated seam, aswell as a temporary clamping of the advanced film band section and thetearing away of the precedent film band section.

The folded film band used as the starting material may be unwound from adelivery roll. In this case, the two superposed halves of the foldedfilm band tend to adhere to each other which would prevent the bandsection from being opened by the air blast. It is therefore advantageousto unfold the two halves of the folded film band before the heat-sealingoperation. This can be done continuously along with the removal of thefilm band from the delivery roll.

The unwinding of the delivery roll, the unfolding of the two halves ofthe folded film band, the applying of the heat-sealing seams over thewhole height of the film band, the blowing, opening and keeping open ofthe film band section, the tearing off of each bag from the remainingbags and the filling and shrinking are consecutive operational stepswhich are effected with the coins oriented in the same vertical planewhich is changed only after they are completely wrapped and tightlypacked when they are finally ejected.

The inventive device for packing coins comprises a mechanism for openingand transporting each bag which includes an annular pin basket with tworings which are connected together by a return spring and mounted so asto be rotatable in respect to each other. Swiveling levers are supportedby the pin basket and have free ends, with pins which project downwardlyand are adapted to be spread apart under the action of the returnspring, up to positions corresponding to the desired diameter of the bagto be manufactured. The pin basket is slewable about a fixed verticalshaft into two positions diametrically opposed with respect to the shaftand movable on this shaft into two different end elevations by means ofan elevating cam surface. In the zone of the first operating position,there is provided a pair of clamping jaws as well as a blast pipe and inthe second operating position, there is mounted the storing tube, a baglowering mechanism, and a shrinkage equipment which can be run throughthe lowering mechanism.

According to an advantageous development of the invention, a heatedsealing bar provided with teeth of unequal length is supported by anadjustable first swivel arm and arranged in vertical position before theclamping jaws, and a second swivel arm bearing a back-up rollerrotatable about a vertical axis is mounted so as to have a commonvertical swivel axis with the first swivel arm. The second swivel armbearing the back-up roller is connected to a pull magnet whichintermittently presses this arm, and thereby the back-up roller alongwith the folded film band passed around the same, against theheat-sealing bar, counter the action of a return spring. A lever armswings about the vertical axis of the delivery roll and has a free endwith a cylindrical doctor which is adapted to engage into the foldedfilm band and whose height corresponds to the height of the folded band.A return spring acts on the doctor to form a feeding loop for theadvance of the folded film band.

The toothing of the heat-sealing bar is shaped so that the length of theteeth in the zone outside the lower reach of the pins of the pin basketis increased. In the direction of the fold of the film band, theproduced perforation holes are therefore longer than in the upper part.Consequently, per unit of length, there is a smaller number ofperforation webs in the lower part of the heat-sealing bar and thefolded film band tears along the perforation far more easily in thedirection of its lower part. Thus, the bags may be separated veryeasily.

There is further provided, according to another development of theinvention, a cam rigidly secured to the fixed vertical shaft, againstwhich an extended twoarmed swivel lever of the pin basket can applywhile pivoting in the upper level of the basket so as to produce ajoining motion of the pins toward the basket center. The elevating camsurface is appropriately arranged at the lower end of the fixed shaftand adapted to cooperate with a cam foller which is supported by a guidesleeve surrounding the fixed shaft and bearing the pin basket. Thereby,the reciprocating movement of the pin basket simultaneously produces anup and down movement of the basket.

In a further development, the elevating cam surface cooperates with alid member which is mounted off the cam surface on a support and adaptedto be lifted by the raising motion of the cam roller. Thus, afterreaching a horizontal path on the level of the top of the cam surface,which position corresponds to the upper level position of the pinbasket, the cam roller returns running on the lid member which is anextension of the horizontal path. At the end of the lid, the rollerfalls down again to the lower level. This arrangement assures acontinuous up and down movement of the pin basket simultaneously withits reciprocating movement. At the end of its movement in the upperlevel during which the pins are urged to join together to a bundle inthe basket center, the pin basket falls down to the lower level where,under the action of the return spring, the pins are spread apart so asto apply against the circumference of the blown up bag. The subsequentoperating movement brings the basket into an opposite position and, atthe same time, in the upper level. After the filling and lowering of thebag, the pin basket returns into the first upper position.

In order to produce the joining and spreading motions of the pins, theextended swivel arm of the pin basket bears a guide roller rotatableabout a vertical axis, whose axial length is equal to the mutualdistance of the two levels. In the lower level, the guide rollerdisengages from the cooperating cam.

It is useful to provide openings for light sensing means in the clampingjaws. The light sensing means scan a print recurring in equal distanceson the film band, preferably on the inner side thereof, or theperforated sealing seams of the folded film band.

A second similar pin basket equipped with upwardly projecting guide rodsis provided below the elevating cam surface and arranged coaxially withthe storing tube. After the filling of the bag, the guide rods applyagainst the pile to be wrapped and guide it during the initial fall andduring the subsequent decelerated downward movement supported by thelowering mechanism.

The bag lowering mechanism is equipped with an annular support acrosswhich an ejector, operable at the end of the downward movement, passesthrough. Only at the end of the downward movement of the filled bagwhich has already been shrunk while still in its upright position, is ittilted onto a sloping chute and rolled off. This rolling movement isfacilitated and assured by the uniform shrinking of the bag around thepile which has been held aligned during the whole process.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a method forwrapping vertical columns of piled articles such as coins or the like inbags manufactured out of a shrink film, into which the coins, etc., areintroduced through a storing tube, which comprises the consecutiveoperational steps of feeding a film band folded longitudinally in halfin a vertical position and with the fold below and by consecutive steps,heat-sealing and simultaneously perforating the folded film band alongvertical lines spaced from each other at distances corresponding to thediameter of the articles of the pile to be wrapped so as to formindividual bags, blowing up the bag thus obtained and holding it open bymeans of 5 spreading members, tearing the bag off the rest of the filmband and transporting it under the article storing tube, dropping thestored pile of articles into the bag and stripping the bag off thespreading members, lowering the bag containing the pile slowly and invertical position through a hot air current so as to make it shrinkdown, and ejecting the finished tight pack.

A further object of the invention is, in order to facilitate the tearingaway of the oepned bag, to provide such perforations along the sealingseams whose resistance against the tearing decreases in the downwarddirection.

Another object of the invention is to provide a scanning circuit whichmay control step by step the feeding, the clamping, sealing, tearing andother necessary operatlons.

Another object of the invention is to provide for an unfolding of thefolded film band before the heatsealing operation, in order to preventthe mutual adhering of the two halves of the folded band.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device for carryingout the proposed method, comprising an annular pin basket with two ringsmutually connected by a return spring and rotatable in respect to eachother, swiveling levers mounted on the pin basket and bearing pins whichare projecting downwards and adapted to be spread apart so as to applyagainst and hold the open bag, a fixed vertical shaft about which thepin basket can slew into two diametrically opposed positions, anelevating cam surface and a cam roller cooperating therewith to enablethe pin basket to perform an up and down movement in addition to itsslewing movement, clamping jaws and a blast pipe in the zone of thefirst extreme position of the basket, and a storing tube, a bag loweringmechanism and a shrinkage equipment in the zone of the second extremeposition of the basket.

Another object of the invention is to provide a heatsealing barsupported by an adjustable first swivel arm and arranged in verticalposition before the clamping jaws, a second swivel arm bearing a back-uproller and connected to a pull magnet which intermittently presses thisarm with the back-up roller and the folded film band against theheat-sealing bar, counter to the action of a return spring, acylindrical doctor mounted on a swinging lever arm and engaging into thefolded film band in order to unfold the same before the heatsealingoperation, and to provide the heat-sealing bar with unequal toothing soas to produce a closure seam in the upper part which is more resistantto tearing than in the lower part, and thus to facilitate the tearingaway of the bags even when using film bands of unusual height.

A further object of the invention is to provide on the pin basket anextended swivel arm which cooperates with a cam rigidly secured to thefixed vertical shaft so as to produce, in a first operating position ofthe basket, a joining motion of the pins toward the basket center.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lid member cooperatingwith the elevating cam surface and the associated cam roller so as topermit the cam roller to raise on the cam surface to the higher leveland to return on the lid member, which is an extension of the higherlevel horizontal surface, until it drops, at the end of the lid member,again to the lower level.

Another object of the invention is to provide on the extended swivel arma guide roller whose axial length is equal to the mutual distance of thetwo motion levels of the pin basket so that after the dropping of thebasket in its first slewing position, the guide roller disengages fromthe cam and enables the pins to spread apart.

A further object of the invention is to provide openings in the clampingjaws for a light sensing device which may scan either a print applied onthe inner side of the folded film band or the heat-sealing seam of eachbag section.

Another object of the invention is to provide a second pin basketarranged below the elevating cam surface and under the storing tube,which is equipped with guide rods projecting upwards and adapted to moveradially inwardly and apply against the filled bag during the loweringmovement thereof.

Still another object of the invention is to provide the loweringmechanism with an annular support which the ejector arranged at the endof the downward movement may pass.

For an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference ismade to the following description of ,a typical embodiment thereof asillustrated in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the Drawings:

FIG. 1, 2 and 3 are partial top plan views schematically showing thethree basic operational steps in the manufacture of bags out of a filmband folded in half, according to the invention;

FIGS. 4 to 7 are partial elevational views illustrating the operationalsteps shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3;

FIGS. 4a to 7a are top plan views, partly in section, of the elevatingcam surface zone shown in FIGS. 4 to FIG. 8 is a supplmented elevationalview to FIG. 7, where the bag is shown already filled;

FIGS. 8a and 8b show in two different elevational views the cooperationbetween the elevating cam surface and the associated cam roller and lidmember during an operational cycle;

FIG. 9 is a partial top plan view of the pin basket in differentpositions during the operational cycle illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 8;

FIG. 10 is a lateral elevational view of the heatsealing bar providedwith an unequal toothing;

FIG. 10a is a top plan view according to FIG. 10; and

FIGS. 11 and 12 are partial elevational views of folded film bandsshowing the perforated heat-seal seams of two bands of different height,the perforations being made in both cases with the sealing bar accordingto FIG. 10.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to thedrawings in particular, the invention embodied therein comprises adevice for making, filling, closing and shrink tightening bags ofshrinkable film for packaging coins therein. As shown in FIGS. 1-3, themachine includes a frame 1 supporting a supply roll 3 mounted on an axle2. A shrink film band 4 is wound on the roll 3. The film band 4 is not asingle layer strip but a band of shrink film longitudinally folded intwo so that in the vertical feeding position, the fold forms the bottomedge 5. The two upper free edges are designated 6. The two halves of thefilm band tend to adhere to each other. They are unfolded by means of acylindrical doctor 7 which engages into the band and whose height isapproximately equal to the height of the folded band. The doctor 7 issupported by a lever arm 8 pivoting about the axis 2, as indicated bythe arrow 9, and biased by the action of a return spring 10 in acounterclockwise direction. The doctor 7 forms a feeding loop for theadvance of the folded film band 4, as it is shown in FIG. 1.

The film band unfolded by the doctor 7 is passed around a verticalback-up roller 11 which is rotatably mounted on the end of a swivel arm12 with a swivel axis 13. The swivel arm is connected to a return spring14 by which it is urged against the stop 15. The back-up roller 11 facesa heat-sealing bar 16 which is provided with teeth, arranged vertically,and supported by an adjustable swivel arm 17 which can be locked in itsswivel position. FIG. 1 shows another swivel operating position indash-dot lines. This swivel position is decisive for the selecteddiameter of the film bag to be manufactured and, consequently, for thedistance of two consecutive heat-seal seams 18 of a film band section19.

To produce a heat-seal seam 18, a kinetic impulse is given to the swivelarm 12 of the back-up roller 11 by the electrically operated pull magnet20 whose control lines are designated 21. The pull magnet comprises aplunger-type armature 22 which is articulated to the swivel arm 12 overan intermediate lever 23. The pull magnet is supported by the crossbarportion 24 of the forked swivel arm 17.

A pair of clamping jaws 25 is mounted behind the back-up roller inrespect to the feeding direction. The clamping jaws are provided withopenings 26 for light from light sensing means which includes sensor 27and two timing elements 28 and 29 connected in the control line 21. Thetiming element 28 controls an operating magnet (not shown) of theclamping jaws 25 and the timing element 29 controls the pull magnet 20.The advance of the folded film band and the tearing away of therespective section along the perforated seam 18 is effected by a pinbasket generally designated 30. A continuous reciprocating drive (notshown) is connected to the pin basket and it is moved while the clampingjaws 25 are open, from the position shown in FIG. 1 to the positionshown in FIG. 2 to engage the interior of the feeding loop of the filmband. In the position shown in FIG. 2, the side closure seam 18 to bescanned is located close to and before the light sensor 27. The pair ofclamping jaws 25 and 26 are still open. In the following instant, theheat-seal seam 18 comes in the path of the light barrier 27. Thescanning pulse causes an immediate closing of the clamping jaws 25 and26 and almost simultaneously the attraction of the pull magnet 20 sothat the back up roller is moved against the heat-sealing bar 16 and thesubsequent heat-seal 18 is produced. During this motion step, the foldedfilm band 4 is advanced and partially removed from the supply roll 3 inthe direction as shown by the arrow 31 (FIG. 3). The film band sectionseized by the pin basket and held as an open bag is transported away andfinally torn off the remaining film band section 19, which, in FIG. 3,is represented in dotted lines. The

tearing takes place along the perforated seam 18. The separated bag isthen filled in the filling station and stripped off the pin basketwhich, in the following part of the operational cycle, returns in itsposition shown in FIG. 1. The subsequent section of the film band, whichin FIG. 3 is represented in broken lines, is blown up to an open bagimmediately after the tearing away of the precedent band section, as itis shown in FIG. 3. The film band section is torn off while the clampingjaws are closed. According to the adjustment of the timing element 29,the pull magnet 20 is released after a selected time period. A newfeeding loop forms due to the spring pressure on the doctor 7 whichreoccupies the position shown in FIG. 1 in which the clamping jaws openafter the time set according to the adjustment of the timing element 28.The whole cycle is then repeated.

The further operational steps may be better seen in FIGS. 4-7 and 4a7a.The transport of the pin basket 30 as represented in FIGS. 13 iseffected in the course of a rotating or pivoting movement which isindicated by the double arrow 32 in FIG. 4. Aside from this movement,the pin basket 30 is moved up and down between an upper level 33 and alower'level 34 (FIGS. 4 and 5).. This second movement, in verticaldirection, is derived from the pivoting movement and brought about by anelevating cam surface 35 which cooperates with a roller 36 mounted on ahorizontal axis of a guide sleeve 37 of the pin basket 30. The elevatingcam surface 35 is secured to a vertical fixed shaft 38 and also movesthe guide sleeve 37 up and down. The shaft 38 is positioned so that inone extreme position of the pin basket, the projecting pins 39 of thebasket 30 extend approximately over the middle of the film band section19 which extends outwardly from the clamping jaws 25 and from which thepreceding section has already been torn away along the perforatedheat-seal seam 18.

FIGS. 4 and 5 correspond to the position shown in FIG. 1. The pins 39joined in a bundle are positioned in the upper level while the pins 39,which are spread apart to the diameter of the bag section and introducedinto the open bag, are positioned in the lower level 34. The radialinward motion of the pins into the position according to FIG. 4 isproduced by means of a guide cam 40 which also is rigidly secured to theshaft 38. The pin basket is provided with a guide roller 41 which causesthe displacement ofthe pins 39 into their central position according toFIG. 4 as soon as it comes into contact with the guide cam.

The pin basket is of annular shape. In the receiving position of the pinbasket, according to FIG. 4, the blast pipe or air supply pipe 43 issituated above the basket 30. The continuous air stream directeddownwards from pipe 43 and indicated by the arrows 44 blows therespective film band section 19 up to an open bag, as shown in FIG. 1.The pins 39 can be introduced from above into the blown up bag sectionsituated at the lower level 34 as soon as the guide roller 41 disengagesfrom the guide cam 41. The axial length of the guide roller is equal tothe spacing between the two levels 33 and 34.

At the moment of disengagement of the guide roller I 41 from the guidecam 40, a return spring provided in bag section of the film band fromthe position of FIG. 1 to the position of FIG. 2 and then to theposition of FIG. 3 which corresponds to FIG. 6. During the pivotalmovement of the pin basket 30, the bag 45 seized by the pins 39 is tornoff the subsequent film band section 19 along the perforated heat-sealseam 18 and separately brought into the filling station in which thestoring tube 46 is mounted. The tube 46 contains a separate number ofcounted coins in a pile of coins 47 which is retained by a rotaryshutter or door 48 at the bottom opening of the tube. The swingingmovement of the rotary shutter is indicated by the arrow 49. As soon asthe shutter opens the tube, the coin pile 47 drops into the bag45 which,due to the added weight of the coins, is stripped off the pins 39.

In order to obtain a continuous vertical movement only of the pinbasket, there is provided a lid member 50 positioned adjacent to theelevating cam surface 35 but hinged off the same, on a support 51. Thelid mem ber swivels about a horizontal axis 52 when it is pushed frombelow by the roller 36 and lifted. The roller 36 runs upwardly onto theupper horizontal portion 53 of the elevating cam surface and then, inthe return movement, on the upper surface of the lid member which, inthe meantime, has returned in its horizontal position as shown in FIG.4a. The roller continues its movement in the direction of the arrow 54in FIG. 4a, slides from the lid member at the end thereof and falls downinto the position represented in FIGS. and 5a in which the pin basketoccupies its position in the lower level 34. From there, the roller 36returns again and runs up the elevating cam surface 35. In FIGS. 6 and6a, the roller is represented in a position close below the lid member.The roller lifts the lid member again and runs up to the horizontalportion 53 at the top of the elevating cam surface, therefrom again overthe upper surface of the lid member in the return movement according toarrow 54. The reciprocating movement in the direction of arrows 54 and55 and the movement of the pin basket between the two levels 33 and 34continues in a repeated cycle.

The reciprocating movement of the pin basket 30 about the shaft 38 isbrought about by a periodical slewing drive indicated by the doublearrow 32. The turning angle amounts to 180 so that the two extremepositions in the reception station I and in the filling station II (FIG.9) are diametrically opposed. The return movement of the pin gasket fromthe position II into the position I is controlled by the actuation of amicroswitch 56 against which the guide roller 41 finally applies. Theguide roller is supported by the two-armed swivel lever 57 of thesetting mechanism 42 which comprises a plurality of swivel levers 58.Each swivel lever supports on its end -a pin 39. The displacement of thepins is effected by means of two rings 59 and 60 adapted to be mutuallyshifted. The swivel levers are mounted on fixed axes 61 provided on theouter ring 59 and are moved by means of dogs 62 provided on the innerring 60 and engaging into open slots 63 of the swivel levers. The swivelarm 57 is an extended swivel lever which, when actuated, causes themutual shifting of the two rings.

As it may be seen in FIG. 9, in the position I, the pin basket is closedowing to the cooperation of the guide roller 41 with the guide cam 40.On the contrary, in the position II, the basket is open. The opening iseffected by by a return spring 64 which is fixed to the outer arm of theswivel arm 57 and to the outer ring 59. The return spring is effectiveas soon as the guide roller 41 disengages from the guide cam 40, that isas soon as the pin basket comes into the lower level position 34. InFIG. 9, this position is designated as la. It is a position in which thepins have seized the bag 45 and already torn it away from the remainingbags. The position Ia of FIG. 9 corresponds to the positions accordingto FIGS. 3 and 6.

FIG. 7 shows the filling position of the not yet filled bag 45 again.The pin basket is in its upper level 33 close to the storing tube 46. Asecond pin basket 30a is mounted below the elevating cam surface 35,coaxi ally with the storing tube 46. The pin basket 30a comprisessubstantially upwardly extending guide rods 65 which, in their closingposition according to FIG. 8, apply, under a light spring pressure,against the filled and downwardly falling coin bag. The second pinbasket may be controlled by an appropriate control pulse actuating acontrol magnet (not shown). The second pin basket also comprises asetting mechanism 42 corre sponding to the setting mechanism of the pinbasket 30 so that all of the provided guide rods are automaticallyadjusted to the diameter of the dropping pile. This second pin basket isrigidly fixed to the shaft 38. Below the pin basket 30a, there isprovided a bag lowering mechanism, generally designated 66 (FIG. 7).Such lowering mechanisms are known and, therefore, the mechanism is notdescribed in detail. It executes a reciprocating shifting movementupwardly and downwardly on the shaft 38, as it may be seen in FIG. 8.

Substantially only one sleeve 66a of the lowering mechanism which ismovable on the shaft 38 is represented, supporting a jib 67. The jib 67bears an annular support 68 wth an opening or slot 680 through which anejector 69 passes in the zone of the lower extreme position of thelowering mechanism. In its downward movement, the jib 67 passes througha shrinkage cham ber 70 to which a hot air pipe 71 is connected. The hotair current is indicated by the arrows 72. The current is directedtransversely against the bag 45 which is filled with the pile to bewrapped and is slowly moved downwardly, and whose upper edge protrudesabove the height of the pile. To permit the passing of the jib 67, avertical through-slot 73 is provided in the casing of the shrinkagechamber. During the passage through the shrinkage chamber, the film bag45 shrinks down and applies tightly against the coin pile 47. At thesame time, the protruding end portion of the film bag 45 closes the coinpilefrom above. The finished wrapped coin pile becomes a coin roll 74which, at the end of the lowering movement of the mechanism, is tiltedinto a horizontal position by the action of the ejector 69 and passes ona sloping chute 75.

The downward motion of the lowering mechanism in the direction of thearrow 76 is. effected by a nonrepresented motor-operated drive. A limitswitch 77 actuated by a nose 78 provided on the sleeve 66a of thelowering mechanism closes the circuit for the return upward movement inthe direction of the arrow 79. However, the most simple return movementmay be effected by a return spring which is not represented. The upperposition of the sleeve 66a of the bag lowering mechanism is limited bythe mounting bracket 80 of the lower pin basket 30a.

FIGS. 8 and 8a again show the motion cycle of the roller 36 on theelevating cam surface 35 in cooperation with the lid member 50, inanother representation.

It is of importance for an easy tearing of the film along the perforatedseam 18 down to the longitudinal fold, that the tearing is effected witha decreasing resistance in this direction. For this purpose, there isprovided a heat-sealing bar represented in FIGS. and 10a, which iselectrically heated in a known manner. In accordance with FIGS. 1-3,this sealing bar is designated by 16. The bar is vertically mounted andprovided, in its upper part corresponding to the dipping reach of thepin basket pins 39, for example with six short teeth 81 and, outside thementioned part, with substantially longer teeth 82 which, consequently,produce longer perforation holes 83. Thus, the perforation webs 84 inthe lower part of each film band section 19 are spaced at largerdistances then in the upper part and, in relation to the tearing length,their number is smaller. The perforation webs 84 correspond to the toothgaps 85 on the sealing bar 16. This shape of the perforation seams isindependent of the height of the bags to be manufactured, as it can belearned from the comparison of FIGS. 11 and 12.

In case of wrapping coin piles, the film bags are provided with prints4a uniformlyspaced and indicating the content of the pack. These printsare mostly applied to the inner side, in order to prevent their use. Thesensor 27 may scan the prints 4a instead of scanning the sealing seams18.

The spreading force of the pins 39 is absorbed by the narrowerperforation to which also the pulling force necessary for the tearing,which starts from the longitudinal edges 6, is applied. In the lowerpart, the tearing requires a decreasing force corresponding to the lowerresistance of the part with the longer perforation holes 83.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed in detail to illustrate the application of the principles ofthe invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodiedotherwise without departing from such principles.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for packing piles of small flat articles such as coinsin shrinkable film material, comprising support means for stacking apile of the articles, a supply 0f longitudinally folded shrinkable film,means for feeding a length of said longitudinally folded shrinkable filmfrom said supply along a feed path extending below said support meanswith the folded end extending downwardly, bag forming means locatedalong said feed path length engageable with said shrinkable film alongvertical lines which are longitudinally spaced and extend substantiallyperpendicular to said foldline, and forming bag side closures at spacedlongitudinal locations, bag opening means engageable into the interiorof each bag which is formed in succession to spread it open before it ismoved below said support means so that when each bag arrives below saidsupport means it is fully opened, said support means including a movablesupport to drop a pile of the articles into the fully opened bag, saidbag being disengageable from said bag opening means upon being filledwith the articles, and means for supporting said bag in its verticalposition after it is filled with the articles so as to hold the articlesvertically, and means for treating the film with the articles therein inorder to shrink the film over the articles and cause it to tightlyengage the articles, said bag opening means comprising an annular pinbasket with two rings which are mutually connected by a return springand mounted so as to be rotatable in respect to each other, swivellevers supported by said pin basket and provided on their free ends withpins which project downwardly and which are movable upon relativerotation of said rings on the action of said return spring to openoutwardly within said bag to an amount to expand said bag to theselected diameter of the bag to be manufactured, and including cam meansfor moving said pin basket between different levels in which said pinsextend downwardly into said bag and are lifted upwardly above said bag.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, including blowing means overlyingsaid folded sheet of film engageable into the opening of each bag whichis formed to blow the bag parts open before they are engaged by said bagopening means.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said bag forming meanscomprises a heat-sealable member engageable with said length ofshrinkable film, clampable means for clamping said film in a fixedposition and means for periodically moving said film into engagementwith said heat-sealing means when it is clamped into position in orderto form a side closure seal extending upwardly from the foldline to thetop of said bag.

4. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said heat-seal lines aredisposed at a spacing corresponding to the diameter of said bag, saidheat-sealing means and said means for directing said folded sheet filminto association with said heat-sealing means being adjustable to alterthe spacing between said heat-sealing lines.

5. A device according to claim 1, wherein said bag forming meanscomprises a heated sealing bar having a plurality of spaced teethlocated along one side of said feed path, means for periodicallyshifting said folded sheet of film material into engagement with saidsealing bar and clamping means for clamping said web when said web isshifted by said means into engagement with said sealing bar.

6. An apparatus according to claim 1, including clamping jaws forengaging said folded sheet of shrinkable film, light sensing meansadjacent said jaws for sensing fixed indications along the length ofsaid film for operating said clamping jaws and means response to saidsensing means to apply a heat closure sealing to said folded web.

7. An apparatus for packing piles of small flat articles such as coinsin shrinkable film material, comprising support means for stacking apile of the articles, a supply of longitudinally folded shrinkable film,means for feeding a length of said longitudinally folded shrinkable filmfrom said supply along a feed path extending below said support meanswith the folded end extending downwardly, bag forming means locatedalong said feed path length engageable with said shrinkable film alongvertical lines which are longitudinally spaced and extend substantiallyperpendicular to said foldline, and forming bag side closures at spacedlongitudinal locations, bag opening means engageable into the interiorof each bag which is formed in succession to spread it open before it ismoved below said support means so that when each bag arrives below saidsupport means it is fully opened, said support means including a movablesupport to drop a pile of the articles into the fully opened bag, saidbag being disengageable from said bag opening means upon being filledwith the articles, and

means for supporting said bag in its vertical position after it isfilled with the articles so as to hold the articles vertically, andmeans for treating the film with the articles therein in order to shrinkthe film over the articles and cause it to tightly engage the articles,said bag forming means comprising a heated sealing bar having aplurality of spaced teeth located along one side of said feed path,means for periodically shifting said folded sheet of film material intoengagement with said sealing bar and clamping means for clamping saidweb when said web is shifted by said means into engagement with saidsealing bar, said heated sealing bar being supported by an adjustablefirst swivel arm and arranged in a vertical position adjacent saidclampingjaws, a second swivel arm bearing a back-up roller rotatableabout a vertical axis mounted so as to have a common vertical swivelaxis with said first swivel arm, said second swivel arm bearing theback-up roller being connected to a pull magnet which intermittentlypresses said second swivel arm and thereby the back-up roller along withthe folded film web against said heat-sealing bar, and a doctor rollerengageable with said web between the folded portions thereof to spreadsaid web as it is being fed.

8. An apparatus for packing piles of small flat articles such as coinsin shrinkable film material, comprising support means for stacking apile of the articles, a sup ply of longitudinally folded shrinkablefilm, means for feeding a length of said longitudinally foldedshrinkable film from said supply along a feed path extending below saidsupport means with the folded end extending downwardly, bag formingmeans located along said feed path length engageable with saidshrinkable film along vertical lines which are longitudinally spaced andextend substantially perpendicular to said foldline, and forming bagside closures at spaced longitudinal locations, bag opening meansengageable into the interior of each bag which is formed in successionto spread it open before it is moved below said support means so thatwhen each bag arrives below said support means it is fully opened, saidsupport means including a movable support to drop a pile of the articlesinto the fully opened bag, said bag being disengageable from said bagopening means upon being filled with the articles, and means forsupporting said bag in its vertical position after it is filled with thearticles so as to hold the articles vertically, and means for treatingthe film with the articles therein in order to shrink the film over thearticles and cause it to tightly engage the articles, said bag openingmeans comprising a pair of oppositely rotatable rings, a plurality ofpivot arms pivotally mounted on said rings and having inner endscarrying vertically extending pins which are engageable into the bagswith the other of said rings having a control member thereon engageablewith said lever arms to shift said lever arms upon relative rotation ofsaid rings, a shaft carrying said rings and being pivotal through asubstantially 180 of arc, and cam means defined between said shaft andsaid lever arms to shift said lever arms with said rings to move saiddepending pins together in one end position of the arc of movement ofsaid rings and to open them up in an opposite end position of arc ofmovement of said rings.

9. A device according to claim 8, including cam means carried on saidshaft cooperable with a cam roller carrying said pin basket to effect anupward and downward movement of said pin basket and said pins for theinsertion and retraction of said pins from the bags.

10. A device according to claim 9, wherein said ele vating cam surfaceof said cam means cooperates with a lid member which is mountedseparately from said cam means on a support and forms an exterior of theupper horizontal portion of said cam surface and is adapted to be liftedby the rising motion of said cam follower so that during its returnmovement the cam roller runs over said lid member and at the same timefalls down into said lower level.

11. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein one of said lever armsincludes an external roller follower, said follower being rotatable withsaid rings through the arc of pivotal movement and a cam engageable withsaid roller carried on said shaft.

12. An apparatus for packing piles of small flat articles such as coinsin shrinkable film material, compris ing support means for stacking apile of the articles, a supply of longitudinally folded shrinkable film,means for feeding a length of said longitudinally folded shrinkable filmfrom said supply along a feed path extending below said support meanswith the folded end extending downwardly, bag forming means locatedalong said feed path length engageable with said shrinkable film alongvertical lines which are lohgitudinally spaced and extend substantiallyperpendicular to said foldline, and forming bag side closures at spacedlongitudinal locations, bag opening means engageable into the interiorof each bag which is formed insuccession to spread it open before it ismoved below said support means so that when each bag arrives below saidsupport means it is fully opened, said support means including a movablesupport to drop a pile of the articles into the fully opened bag, saidbag being disengageable from said bag opening means upon being filledwith the articles, and means for supporting said bag in its verticalposition after it is filled with the articles so as to hold the articlesvertically, and means for treating the film with the articles therein inorder to shrink the film over the articles and cause it to tightlyengage the articles, said bag opening means including downwardlyextending pins engageable within the interior of said bag and movableoutwardly to open said bag and to hold said bag until it is filled withthe articles, a lowering mechanism directly below said bag opening meansengageable with the exterior of said bag and holding it in a verticalposition and being movable downwardly, and said treatment means beinglocated in the path of downward movement to shrink the film on the bagwhile it is being held in a vertical position.

1. An apparatus for packing piles of small flat articles such as coinsin shrinkable film material, comprising support means for stacking apile of the articles, a supply of longitudinally folded shrinkable film,means for feeding a length of said longitudinally folded shrinkable filmfrom said supply along a feed path extending below said support meanswith the folded end extending downwardly, bag forming means locatedalong said feed path length engageable with said shrinkable film alongvertical lines which are longitudinally spaced and extend substantiallyperpendicular to said foldline, and forming bag side closures at spacedlongitudinal locations, bag opening means engageable into the interiorof each bag which is formed in succession to spread it open before it ismoved below said support means so that when each bag arrives below saidsupport means it is fully opened, said support means including a movablesupport to drop a pile of the articles into the fully opened bag, saidbag being disengageable from said bag opening means upon being filledwith the articles, and means for supporting said bag in its verticalposition after it is filled with the articles so as to hold the articlesvertically, and means for treating the film with the articles therein inorder to shrink the film over the articles and cause it to tightlyengage the articles, said bag opening means comprising an annular pinbasket with two rings which are mutually connected by a return springand mounted so as to be rotatable in respect to each other, swivellevers supported by said pin basket and provided on their free ends withpins which project downwardly and which are movable upon relativerotation of said rings on the action of said return spring to openoutwardly within said bag to an amount to expand said bag to theselected diameter of the bag to be manufactured, and including cam meansfor moving said pin basket between different levels in which said pinsextend downwardly into said bag and are lifted upwardly above said bag.2. An apparatus according to claim 1, including blowing means overlyingsaid folded sheet of film engageable into the opening of each bag whichis formed to blow the bag parts open before they are engaged by said bagopening means.
 3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said bagforming means comprises a heat-sealable member engageable with saidlength of shrinkable film, clampable means for clamping said film in afixed position and means for periodically moving said film intoengagement with said heat-sealing means when it is clamped into positionin order to form a side closure seal extending upwardly from thefoldline to the top of said bag.
 4. An apparatus according to claim 3,wherein said heat-seal lines are disposed at a spacing corresponding tothe diameter of said bag, said heat-sealing means and said means fordirecting said folded sheet film into association with said heat-sealingmeans being adjustable to alter the spacing between said heat-sealinglines.
 5. A device according to claim 1, wherein said bag forming meanscomprises a heated sealing bar having a plurality of spaced teethlocated along one side of said feed path, means for periodicallyshifting said folded sheet of film material into engagement with saidsealing bar and clamping means for clamping said web when said web isshifted by said means into engagement with said sealing bar.
 6. Anapparatus according to claim 1, including clamping jaws for engagingsaid folded sheet of shrinkable film, light sensing means adjacent saidjaws for sensing fixed indications along the length of said film foroperating said clamping jaws and means response to said sensing means toapply a heat closure sealing to said folded web.
 7. An apparatus forpacking piles of small flat articles such as coins in shrinkable filmmaterial, comprising support means for stacking a pile of the articles,a supply of longitudinally folded shrinkable film, means for feeding alength of said longitudinally folded shrinkable film from said supplyalong a feed path extending below said support means with the folded endextending downwardly, bag forming means located along said feed pathlength engageable with said shrinkable film along vertical lines whichare longitudinally spaced and extend substantially perpendicular to saidfoldline, and forming bag side closures at spaced longitudinallocations, bag opening means engageable into the interior of each bagwhich is formed in succession to spread it open before it is moved belowsaid support means so that when each bag arrives below said supportmeans it is fully opened, said support means including a movable supportto drop a pile of the articles into the fully opened bag, said bag beingdisengageable from said bag opening means upon being filled with thearticles, and means for supporting said bag in its vertical positionafter it is filled with the articles so as to hold the articlesvertically, and means for treating the film with the articles therein inorder to shrink the film over the articles and cause it to tightlyengage the articles, said bag forming means comprising a heated sealingbar having a plurality of spaced teeth located along one side of saidfeed path, means for periodically shifting said folded sheet of filmmaterial into engagement with said sealing bar and clamping means forclamping said web when said web is shifted by said means into engagementwith said sealing bar, said heated sealing bar being supported by anadjustable first swivel arm and arranged in a vertical position adjacentsaid clamping jaws, a second swivel arm bearing a back-up rollerrotatable about a vertical axis mounted so as to have a common verticalswivel axis with said first swivel arm, said second swivel arm bearingthe back-up roller being connected to a pull magnet which intermittentlypresses said second swivel arm and thereby the back-up roller along withthe folded film web against said heat-sealing bar, and a doctor rollerengageable with said web between the folded portions thereof to spreadsaid web as it is being fed.
 8. An apparatus for packing piles of smallflat articles such as coins in shrinkable film material, comprisingsupport means for stacking a pile of the articles, a supply oflongitudinally folded shrinkable film, means for feeding a length ofsaid longitudinally folded shrinkable film from said supply along a feedpath extending below said support means with the folded end extendingdownwardly, bag forming means located along said feed path lengthengageable with said shrinkable film along vertical lines which arelongitudinally spaced and extend substantially perpendicular to saidfoldline, and forming bag side closures at spaced longitudinallocations, bag opening means engageable into the interior of each bagwhich is formed in succession to spread it open before it is moved belowsaid support means so that when each bag arrives below said supportmeans it is fully opened, said support means including a movable supportto drop a pile of the articles into the fully opened bag, said bag beingdisengageable from said bag opening means upon being filled with thearticles, and means for supporting said bag in its vertical positionafter it is filled with the articles so as to hold the articlesvertically, and means for treating the film with the articles therein inorder to shrink the film over the articles and cause it to tightlyengage the articles, said bag opening means comprising a pair ofoppositely rotatable rings, a plurality of pivot arms pivotally mountedon said rings and having inner ends carrying vertically extending pinswhich are engageable into the bags with the other of said rings having acontrol member thereon engageable with said lever arms to shift saidlever arms upon relative rotation of said rings, a shaft carrying saidrings and being pivotal through a substantially 180* of arc, and cammeans defined between said shaft and said lever arms to shift said leverarms with said rings to move said depending pins together in one endposition of the arc of movement of said rings and to open them up in anopposite end position of arc of movement of said rings.
 9. A deviceaccording to claim 8, including cam means carried on said shaftcooperable with a cam roller carrying said pin basket to effect anupward and downward movement of said pin basket and said pins for theinsertion and retraction of said pins from the bags.
 10. A deviceaccording to claim 9, wherein said elevating cam surface of said cammeans cooperates with a lid member which is mounted separately from saidcam means on a support and forms an exterior of the upper horizontalportion of said cam surface and is adapted to be lifted by the risingmotion of said cam follower so that during its rEturn movement the camroller runs over said lid member and at the same time falls down intosaid lower level.
 11. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein one ofsaid lever arms includes an external roller follower, said followerbeing rotatable with said rings through the arc of pivotal movement anda cam engageable with said roller carried on said shaft.
 12. Anapparatus for packing piles of small flat articles such as coins inshrinkable film material, comprising support means for stacking a pileof the articles, a supply of longitudinally folded shrinkable film,means for feeding a length of said longitudinally folded shrinkable filmfrom said supply along a feed path extending below said support meanswith the folded end extending downwardly, bag forming means locatedalong said feed path length engageable with said shrinkable film alongvertical lines which are lohgitudinally spaced and extend substantiallyperpendicular to said foldline, and forming bag side closures at spacedlongitudinal locations, bag opening means engageable into the interiorof each bag which is formed insuccession to spread it open before it ismoved below said support means so that when each bag arrives below saidsupport means it is fully opened, said support means including a movablesupport to drop a pile of the articles into the fully opened bag, saidbag being disengageable from said bag opening means upon being filledwith the articles, and means for supporting said bag in its verticalposition after it is filled with the articles so as to hold the articlesvertically, and means for treating the film with the articles therein inorder to shrink the film over the articles and cause it to tightlyengage the articles, said bag opening means including downwardlyextending pins engageable within the interior of said bag and movableoutwardly to open said bag and to hold said bag until it is filled withthe articles, a lowering mechanism directly below said bag opening meansengageable with the exterior of said bag and holding it in a verticalposition and being movable downwardly, and said treatment means beinglocated in the path of downward movement to shrink the film on the bagwhile it is being held in a vertical position.